Taking Rest

Today I am in bed taking full bed rest. This will be the routine for another 10 days, a total of two weeks. The body treatments that I am taking are from a part of ancient India that originated in the Indus River Valley, the home of the Dravidians in ancient times, before the Aryans came to India. The Dravidians developed an elaborate medical system called Siddha Vaidya (pre-vedic) that offers curative medicines, both herbal and mineral, along with many different kinds of treatments that enhance the body's systems. My husband comes from this line of tradition, and we practice “rest and restoration” for two weeks twice a year, by taking hot oil treatments that cause the body to regenerate a lot of new cells—hence the bed rest.

What does this have to do with art? I can barely hold a paintbrush right now. Hot oil pouches are applied to the skin in a way that makes the body respond as if it were suffering a burn. The treatments are cumulative, and so each treatment adds on to the last—with the “burn” physiology theory. When the human body receives a burn, a lot happens physiologically. The body kicks into an emergency “repair” mode to fix the supposed burn. Anabolism (cellular regeneration) happens, lending one to feel very tired and physically vulnerable. The muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones go as soft as a baby's. The body wants to sleep. This is the state I'm in right now. Repair mode.

As for drawing and painting, last week I took a class called Faces 101 from wonderful artist Carla Sonheim. A five day, rapid paced class, I joined late, and managed to paint and draw my way through four days of the class in two. Whew. I like to “mosey” with my learning. This was intense. I still haven't finished the last day. I grew too tired.

The other online class in which I participated shortyly after is called Intuitive Painting, a watercolor class from Ms. Paivi, a talented artist in Finland. She sells a download on basic techniques in watercolor painting. It doesn't get me closer to the goal that I have to learn to draw and paint realistically, but it is a lot of fun experimenting with colors, patterns, and textures. As for my 100 Painting Challenge, I've painted two new watercolors!

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